Age of Heroes
by enigma939
Summary: My reinterpretation of the Justice League's origins. Superman comes to realise he is not the only hero, but rather the first among equals in an age of superheroism. Slightly AU.


**Age of Heroes**

**A/N: **This is my interpretation of the beginnings of the Justice League. While I have remained more or less faithful to the mainstream DC continuity, I have taken artistic liberties here and there, so this can be classed as AU (possibly one of the many Earths in the Multiverse).

**Chapter 1: Heroes Among Us**

Excerpt from the _Daily Planet_-

In nearly a week's time it shall be two years to the day that Metropolis, America and eventually the entire world, for the first time, beheld the spectacle of a man who could fly. In the time that has followed, the 'Man of Steel' whom we all collectively worship as a 'Superman' has done performed miracles and done wonders that are truly the stuff of legend as he fearlessly soars towards those dark corners of our society which are yet fraught with injustice and corruption. Such sights as this last survivor of an alien world has shown us had never been seen before, and many believed, would never be seen again...at least, not without the simultaneous appearance of a red cape...

Those who believed so however, have believed wrongly.

For we now know that it is not Superman alone who can perform such awe-inspiring deeds of truly superhuman magnitude.

We live in an age of heroes. An age where men and women with extraordinary abilities and even more extraordinary courage and determination, take to the streets (and more often than not, the skies) in pursuit for the age-old utopian goal of truth and justice. Except that every step _they _take towards that goal takes _us _a million steps ahead as a civilization as well...

Or does it?

Some have disagreed with these supermen dealing with 'hand of God' with their mighty gifts, claiming that the safety of humanity and the sanctity of human civilization can scarcely be entrusted to strangely garbed individuals who hide behind masks and 'stage-names' and possess the power to level mountains and reshape the destinies of people within their bodies and minds. Lex Luthor, CEO of LexCorp and one of the world's richest, most powerful men, who has been unequivocal in his criticism of Metropolis's favourite flying son in the past, has extended his mistrust to the other so-called 'super-heroes' as well, as have several powerful elements in the Government. Amanda Waller, a powerful voice in the military-industrial complex has stated her desire to place a proposal before the President soon to monitor the activities of these 'superhuman beings'.

And yet the people themselves worship these heroes not only as their saviours, but as Gods. In East Coast City, thousands of onlookers gather in the streets every morning to gasp in awe as they witness a green blur surging through the sky. In Central City, home of the superhero-celebrity known as the Flash, over a hundred people have signed a petition to place before the City Council to open a museum in honour of their city's 'Scarlet Speedster'. In Washington DC, parades have been organised in honour of the sensational 'super heroine' dubbed by her fans as 'Wonder Woman'. Psychiatrists and sociologists have expressed concerns over this rapidly evolving phenomenon of 'hero worship'; but historians might disagree with their concerns, for since time immemorial, the masses _have _been enamoured by individuals of extraordinary powerful personality and skill, be they military geniuses of the calibre of a Genghis Khan or Napoleon, or autocrats like a Hitler or Stalin or even men of peace like a Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela...their belief is that the newfound public obsession with 'superheroes' is no more than an extension of this 'hero worship' psychology that has prevailed through centuries; the difference being that the individuals being likened by Gods are those who actually _possess _in some measure or the other, the power of Gods!

So who are these mysterious yet heroic men and women? Are they all alien beings like the legendary Superman, who have come to reshape the course of human history for (what we hope is) the better? Or do the origin of their strange and powerful gifts lie in other causes? Do they deserve our absolute trust or at least a degree of scepticism? Only one thing is certain...there are truly 'heroes' among us...and it appears that they are, to use a clichéd phrase, 'here to stay'...

By Clark Kent


End file.
